A First Timer’s Travel Guide to Paris

We spent weeks planning our four-night stay in Paris. We loved the experience and learned a lot about the city, its food, its history, and, more importantly, how to plan better for our next trip to Paris. Here’s what we learned and recommend for all first-timers thinking about visiting this beautiful city.

How early to start planning for Paris

I recommend planning 4-6 months ahead if it’s your first time traveling to Paris. However, if you’re well-traveled and familiar with traveling abroad rules, expectations, laws, and requirements, you might be able to get by planning only 2-3 months ahead. Planning earlier will give you flexibility to get better prices on flights, cheaper hotel accommodations, and give you a heads-up on popular restaurant and activity reservations that may be released earlier than expected (like Louvre or Eiffel Tower ticket drops). 

Unlike in Japan, restaurant reservations were relatively easy for most places to eat in Paris. However, highly awarded restaurants like Septime were exceptionally difficult to reserve. Many coveted reservations open up one month or two weeks ahead. This lead time varies with every specific restaurant, so research and keep track of this when planning. 

For reference, we booked plane tickets in late January for a trip at the end of May. Since this was a short trip, four months was adequate time to plan for Paris. 

Best months to visit Paris

When to visit Paris (or anywhere really) is specific to the traveler. The most popular time to see Paris is the Summer (June-August) and the most expensive. Summer is the high season for Parisian travel because the sunny days are longer. We experienced days when the sun didn’t start to set until 9:00 p.m., and it was still light outside at 10:00 p.m. 

The weather is also fairly pleasant, averaging in the high 70°F (21°C) during the day. Note that many spots in Paris do not have air conditioning, so if you can’t stand the heat or humidity, keep this in mind. We visited during the shoulder season, Spring, and found temperatures to be cooler (50-60℉ / 10-16°C) with some showers. I prefer this type of weather when traveling because I tend to run hotter, especially when constantly walking and using public transportation. 

If you want lower prices and can withstand chilly weather, you can travel to Paris during the off-season in early December, January, and February for cheaper pricing. During the winter, the weather only reaches temperatures of 30-40°F (-1-4°C). You’ll find the city less busy and less crowded in the touristy spots.

How to get around the city in Paris

Unlike Southern California, Paris has an advanced public transportation system. Although some Parisian Métro stations may look a little older, I’ll take a Métro car over driving in traffic here any day. We used a combination of transportation from the Paris Métro (run by the Régie autonome des transports parisiens or RATP), rideshare (Bolt and Uber), and lots of walking. 

From the airport

Before arriving in Paris, we booked a private car from Easy Go Shuttle to pick us up from the airport and take us to our hotel in the 2nd arrondissement. There were other shuttle company options I found also with good ratings, but higher cost. The one we chose was about €72 plus tip ($78) one way, and I would say it was worth the price because, after an 11-hour flight, we didn’t want to wander the airport lugging our bags and waiting in the taxi line.

Our driver waited for us inside at arrivals, took our luggage, and walked us to the private pick-up parking lot. It took about an hour to drive to our hotel, and it was a smooth journey. We had a spacious van all to ourselves, which could have easily seated 6 or more with luggage.

Note: If you want to take a taxi from the airport, make sure you follow these tips to find an official taxi. A flat taxi rate should be between €56-65 ($60-65) depending on the hotel location. I have read that some taxi drivers may try to take advantage of tourists, so confirm this price at the beginning of your ride. You can also take the Réseau Express Régional (RER) trains. These are not covered under typical Métro tickets.

Paris Métro 

Using the Métro is the easiest way to get around Paris and one of the cheapest options besides walking. Since we were only staying in the city for four days, we opted for a Navigo Easy pass that we could refill easily on an app. There are a series of different Métro passes to purchase for tourists, and I recommend reading more about them on the official RATP website. One ticket for the Métro is typically €2.10 ($2.30), and a discounted 10-ticket package is €8.65 ($9.36) as of July 2024. 

One warning I would give anyone using the Métro is to ensure you are correctly tapping in and out of each station. You’ll know if you tapped incorrectly if the light turns color and the doors open. There are heavy fines (€50 / $54) for people who don’t correctly tap in (primarily due to old or broken gates). 

I’ve read multiple posts on the ParisTravelGuide subreddit where Métro security fines tourists who just didn’t know. We had one instance where our passes didn’t work, and the gate didn’t open. Since we couldn’t find a kiosk to ask for help, we just walked to another Métro station to get on our ride. I liked having the app to figure out if we correctly tapped in because it counts the number of tickets used. 

If you plan to travel outside Paris’s city limits and visit areas like Versailles, Disneyland Paris, or the airport, you’ll need to book tickets for the RER trains. 

Rideshare (Bolt / Uber)

We also used rideshare options in Paris a handful of times when we didn’t have time to use the Métro. Plenty of rides are available for Bolt and Uber apps in central Paris, and the price of using these apps was comparable to that of any metropolitan city in the US.

We read some reviews of travelers having bad experiences with Uber drivers, but luckily we didn’t have a single issue with any of the many Uber drivers we got.

Best areas to stay in Paris

Accommodations and location depend on what kind of traveler you are and how you travel. When you’re trying to figure out where to stay in Paris (or anywhere really), I like to first figure out what I want to visit in the city, what activities I want to do, where I want to eat, how do I want to travel daily, and what’s my budget. 

Paris is separated into 20 administrative districts called arrondissements. Many recommend first-timers to stay within central Paris:

• 1st arrondissement: for first-timers who want to see many popular tourist sites like Musée du Louvre and the Jardin des Tuileries. It’s the most central location and right next to the Seine. 
• Les Marais (3rd & 4th arrondissements): This super trendy area combines the 3rd and 4th arrondissements. It’s full of interesting museums, fancy boutiques for shopping, and delicious restaurants. 
• 6th arrondissement: Located on the left bank of the Seine, the 6th arrondissement offers a different vibe from its counterbank. It’s still in a central location, and you can walk to Musée du Louvre or Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. However, it also offers charming streets and old-school architecture. It feels less touristy in this area.  

Things you must do in Paris

There are endless activities you can do in Paris. As a first-timer, we made sure to check out some popular sites. If you’re a big history buff, make sure to drop by these popular cultural and historical sites:

• Eiffel Tower
• Sacre Le Coeur
• Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
• Arc de Triomphe
• Luxembourg Gardens
• Seine River
• Musée du Louvre
• Jardin des Tuileries
• Musée d’Orsay

If you have more time during your Paris trip, there are also nearby popular attractions like Versailles (about 18 miles/30 km from arr. 1) or Disneyland Paris (about 20 miles/32 km from arr. 1) that are reachable through the RER train or car. 

If you love food like me, I recommend taking a cooking or pastry class. We took a croissant-making class from La Cuisine Paris, which was the best start to our trip. Our class was a small group of eight and was led by a seasoned and bubbly pastry chef, Gracie, who taught us the ins and outs of French pastries. It was definitely one of the best things in Paris that we experienced.

For other foodie-related activities, here’s my go-to list:

• E. Dehillerin: famously known as Julia Child’s favorite cooking supply store while she lived in Paris, and now it’s mine, too. This is a legit restaurant supply store full of gorgeous copper pans, Staub cast irons, and more. I picked up some copper canelé tins for future treats!

• La Grande Epicerie Paris: one of the best places to buy French butter. Think bougie grocery store with multiple floors of goodies. They also vacuum seal butter for you to take home. I loved getting some of my favorite souvenirs here.

• Sabre Paris: for sleek and modern flatware. They sell these in the US, but I found the French pricing cheaper than the US stores.

• La Belle-Iloise: if you love tinned fish, definitely stop by this store in Paris (they have several locations). It’s relatively inexpensive, with tasty variations of mackerel, salmon, and more. 

Activities to skip

If you want to avoid one of the city’s biggest tourist traps, skip the Place du Tertre. While Montmartre is charming to walk around, we felt overstimulated in Place du Tertre with dozens of tourists, packed streets with cars, influencer bistros, and souvenir kiosks. 

Another thing I would skip is going to the Musée du Louvre if you were only planning to visit the Mona Lisa. The Louvre has so many historic pieces of art. However, the room where the Mona Lisa is located is packed, humid, and very uncomfortable. Unless you’re super tall and can see above the crowd, you’ll still be relatively far away from the actual painting. I would recommend looking at their other exhibitions or even other museums like Musée d’Orsay. 

Types of restaurants in Paris

Food culture is huge in Paris, and trying different types of French cuisine there is a must-do. Here are some you’ll run into when planning:

• Café: a place to sit outside (or inside) and get your daily cup of coffee. There might be some light pastries, too, but they mainly focus on coffee and tea. See below for our favorite coffee shops.

• Bistro: a cozy and charming restaurant that is often family-owned and serves traditional French cuisine and wine. You’ll find affordable meals here and casual fare, like boeuf Bourguignon, escargot, and soupe à l’oignon (French onion soup). Bistros are typically open for lunch and/or dinner. We loved dining at L’Ami Jean.  
• Brasserie: dine here if you want a lively and boisterous meal. Think of this like a brewery or a pub with a menu similar to what you’ll find at a bistro. They are typically open all day and even late at night. A very popular brasserie is Au Pied de Cochon. Note that if you’re not fond of smoking, you may want to steer clear of sitting outside because it’s a smoke-heavy environment on the patio. 
• Bouillon: another traditional type of restaurant that is larger than a bistro but also serves very affordable French meals for the everyday working person. Bouillons were formed in the 19th century and were named after the French term for “broth” – an ingredient used in many dishes on the menu. You can often get a full meal here below €20 ($22). One popular restaurant is Bouillon Pigalle. 
• Fine dining: There are so many award-winning restaurants in Paris; our friends joke that they give Michelin stars away like candy in Europe–and they’re not wrong. There are plenty of fine dining options all over the city. Booking reservations generally in Paris wasn’t as tricky as restaurants in Japan; however, popular spots like Septime are pretty difficult to come by. We recommend keeping track of exactly what hour of the day and exactly how many days ahead reservations open because booking can be complicated, especially in a different time zone.

Paris is also full of contemporary and fusion restaurants that are just as delicious and popular. During our trip, we tried Filipino French food, Italian French food at Pink Mamma, and Japanese French fusion at Maison (our favorite!). 

We found Paris restaurants by researching friend recommendations, watching YouTube videos like TopJaw, reading Google Maps reviews, and using social media platforms like TikTok. When using these platforms, be wary of visiting overly hyped places and remember what you already prefer eating. 

One big tip I like to use with ongoing research is following a chef whose food I already love eating. Chefs also like to post restaurants where they love to eat, and I make a note of these places when they post. Since I like how the chef cooks, I have a higher chance of enjoying the restaurants they eat at. 

Coffee shops in Paris

I’m a big fan of specialty coffee and was surprisingly happy to find such great coffee shops. I found most of these recommendations from the James Hoffman subreddit and looked through their websites to find the ones I liked best. I also got recommendations from my favorite OC local coffee shop baristas.

One of my go-to coffee beans, Kawa Coffee, is also from Paris, and I decided to stop by their store since I love beans so much. Kawa Coffee has two locations, one each in the 1st and 3rd arrondissements. 

Another coffee shop I liked was Motors Coffee, which had a lively and casual outdoor seating area. I got a refreshing espresso tonic for a relatively humid day. I also recommend Le Peloton Cafe in the 4th arrondissement in Le Marais. This bike-themed coffee shop offers tasty pastries, great coffee, and biking tours. 

Pastries

Parisians take pastries seriously, and you should, too. Pastries and baked goods in Paris are on another level because they use quality ingredients and are made fresh daily. There are French laws that maintain standards at patisseries (pastry shops with items like mille-feuille or Paris-brest), boulangeries (French bakeries focused on bread like baguettes and sandwiches), and viennoiseries (Viennese-inspired pastries like brioche or croissants). 

However, not all pastries are created equal. My favorite spot for pain au chocolat is La Maison d’Isabelle in the 5th arrondissement. The extra flakey layers and bittersweet, melting chocolate were well worth the trek below the Seine. We stopped by the French Bastards boulangerie multiple times during our four-day trip at the Rue st Denis location. If you want a fancy patisserie, stop by Stohrer for excellent kouign amann and sweet souvenirs. 

Pharmacies

If you love skincare, then don’t skip out on French pharmacies. They’re very much like regular pharmacies where you can get prescriptions and non-prescription items–it’s very no frills. However, it’s one of the best places to get skincare and other goods. Brands like Caudalie and La Roche Posay are significantly cheaper in Paris than in the US. For example, I bought Caudalie’s popular Vinoperfect serum (with a free travel-sized sunscreen) for €39 ($43), and in the US, it’s sold for $89. 

I used social media videos and friends’ recommendations to determine what items to purchase. One of the most popular French pharmacies is Citi Pharma in central Paris; however, you can also find all the same products in pharmacies across the city. You’ll know it’s a pharmacy by the bright green plus sign hanging outside above the entrance. 

French phrases to learn for your trip

While it’s not necessary to speak fluent French to travel to Paris, it is highly recommended you learn a few phrases to be a respectful guest visiting a different country. 

Here’s a quick guide on common phrases to say that helped our experience: 

• Yes: “Oui” (wee)
• Hello: “Bonjour” (bawn-zhoor)
• Goodbye: “Au revoir” (oh ruh-vwar)
• Goodnight: “Bonsoir” (bawn-swar)
• Excuse me: “Excusez moi” (ex-koo-say mwa)
• Please: “S’il vous plaît” (seel voo play)
• Thank you: “Merci beaucoup” or simply “Merci” (mer-see boh-koo)
• Where is…: “Où Est…?” (oo-eh)
• Do you speak English?: “Parlez-Vous Anglais?” (pahr-lay voo awn-glay)
• Where is the bathroom?: “Où sont les toilettes?” (oo sohnt lays twah-let) 

Other French words you should learn:

• Gare: “Station” 
• Exit: “Sortie” 
• Do not enter: “Passage Interdit”
• Connection: “Correspondance”
• Reserved seats for elderly or handicapable people: “Places prioritaires”

You don’t need to be fluent in French to get around Paris. But it’s also helpful to download apps like Google and Google Translate, just in case!

Cash and credit cards in Paris

For a four-day trip in Paris, we hardly used any cash and mainly used credit cards and Apple Pay (or tap-to-pay). Tap-to-pay is readily available everywhere, including the Métro. It’s important to note that this also depends on the trip type and activities you want to do. We mostly stuck to non-touristy areas and didn’t purchase any souvenirs from tourist stands.

Paris (and France) uses Euros as currency like other countries in the European Union. Some people recommend bringing a handful of euros to Paris before traveling, just in case. I recommend exchanging €100 from your local bank (or a foreign exchange kiosk) to have cash on hand when you land. While we didn’t use much cash during our trip, we did use some cash on the first day to pay and tip our private driver to the hotel (the service warned ahead of time that payment was to be made in cash only).

Dealing with pickpockets in Paris

Recently, there has been an influx of social media talk about pickpockets and scammers in Europe. Luckily, we didn’t run into many issues while traveling in Paris. However, we did take into account some advice we learned:

• Always be aware of your surroundings and how you carry your bags. We tried to carry our bags in front of us at all times and tried to not look like lost tourists–the more lost you look, the higher the likelihood you can be targeted because you look aloof. 
• Use bags with anti-theft features. For example, use cross-body bags that are difficult to remove from your body, bags with hidden or covered pockets, and zippers with additional locking systems that make them difficult to open for a pickpocketer. 
• Don’t carry too much cash with you in case you get pickpocketed. 

The only instance we ran into potential scammers was standing in line at Pink Mamma for our reservation, and a young couple came around asking for donations for the Red Cross wearing bright yellow-colored vests. I immediately responded with “no” and looked away; they didn’t give us any issues but continued to ask the other people in line. 

Trip planning tools & apps

These are helpful apps I downloaded to help plan, research and go on my Paris trip. 

Wanderlog

Like our previous trips to Tokyo, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Mexico City, I used the Wanderlog app to plan my Europe trip to Paris and London. Wanderlog is a free app that helps you plan your itinerary and keep all your essential trip information in one place. Here are my favorite things about Wanderlog:

• Detailed info: add all your trip information, such as dates, flights, accommodations, restaurants, tourist sites, etc. If you’re a visual learner like me, you can adjust icons and colors. 
• Group collaboration: you can invite your trip mates to add and edit the itinerary
• Mobile app and desktop: you can edit and view all your trip info on a mobile app or a desktop website. The app is handy when you’re on your trip and need information or want to figure out where to go on the map. 
• Suggested guides: Wanderlog also suggests popular tourist spots that other users have created to help you plan your trip. 

Reddit

I mainly used two subreddits that helped me learn about Paris travel and suggested itinerary items. 

• r/ParisTravelGuide: will give you tons of advice on preparing for your trip to Paris and even help you round out your itinerary. I also got a lot of good tips on how to prevent pickpockets. 
• r/JamesHoffman: This was the first trip I used the James Hoffman subreddit, and I’m so grateful for all the awesome cafe suggestions! Thanks to this subreddit, I found Motors Coffee, Le Peloton, and Kawa Coffee. I would also recommend using this subreddit for other Métro cities, like London. 

Social Media

Using social media to help plan a trip can be a double-edged sword. You may end up in an influencer trap or find a real gem, so take advice on the Internet (like this) with a grain of salt and base it on your preferences. I used TikTok mainly to find souvenir suggestions for the French Pharmacies and butter recommendations.

I followed chefs I know (and have eaten their food) on Instagram to see which restaurants they recommended. I also watched YouTube food/travel vloggers and chefs give their favorite spots, like TopJaw.

Bonjour RAPT

If you plan to use the Paris Métro, you must download the official app. With this app, you can:

• Access the Métro, RER, Buses and Tramways, Noctiliens, and Transiliens SNCF
• Buy Métro tickets and (specific) Navigo passes
• Add more trips or money to Navigo passes
• Use the map feature to figure out directions
• Rent scooters and bikes from Lime, Dott, Tier, and Vélib’
• Rent Marcel private cars
• Get up-to-date info on delays and closures

It’s available for download on the Apple Store and Google Play store and is free to use. We used the iPhone app multiple times during our trip to use the Métro and to add funds to our Navigo Easy passes. You can also use your Apple Watch to tap in if you don’t want to remove your phone from your bag or pocket. 

Timeshifter

The older I get, the more prone I am to suffering from jetlag. This time around, I used Timeshifter to adjust fairly easily to the 10+ hour time change to and from Paris. Timeshifter uses your travel dates to help you figure out a proper sleeping schedule that involves light exposure, light avoidance, and caffeine intake. Their process eases the body to change before and after your trip. Although Timeshifter is mainly a paid app, you get a free trip for your first use. 

Things to pack

Here are some helpful things to pack for Paris no matter when you’re visiting:

• Bring sneakers! Paris is a vast public transportation city, so you’ll most often be running around. Sometimes, cobblestone streets aren’t super smooth, so having comfy sneakers is helpful. I packed sneakers that were already worn in and added custom insoles to help with cushioning. 
• Bring bags that have proper closures to prevent theft. 
• Wear things that make you feel comfortable, but if you’re worried about sticking out, know that Parisians have a varied sense of unbothered casual style. This means they’re typically put together but don’t look like they’re going to a business meeting. Think of trench coats and flats (or sneakers) in the winter and spring. 
• If you’re going in the winter or spring (or even early summer, to be honest), bring a small umbrella. You never know when you’ll be stuck in a shower. 
• Mini first aid kits will save you! I like to bring this mini kit from REI and add items like ibuprofen, allergy pills, Zicam (in case traveling makes you under the weather), and antacids. 
• If you have any prescribed medication you need to take to Paris, research if those prescriptions are allowed into France and if they require extra official letters from your doctor listing your prescription. Use this official French customs website to learn more. 
• Bring an extra duffel if you’re like me and love to shop for souvenirs.

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